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nafex - Re: [nafex] Apple Rootstocks / biennal bearing

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  • From: Claude Jolicoeur <cjoli@gmc.ulaval.ca>
  • To: nafex@egroups.com
  • Subject: Re: [nafex] Apple Rootstocks / biennal bearing
  • Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2000 10:29:39 -0500

A 02:10 00.12.15 -0500, vous avez écrit :
>Claude,
>What's the rootstock under the Cortland?
>Richard

Richard,
My Cortland trees were already adult when I bought the land 18 years ago. I
estimate they were probably planted during the 40's. I am quite sure
seedling rootstocks were used. There are about 15 of them and all are quite
annual in bearing habit.

On the individual I was writing about, about 3/4 of the tree is Cortland
and Transparent is the other 1/4. My personnal explanation is that
Cortland, with its regural bearing habit, provoques the correct chemical
balance for formation of fruit buds every year, and this forces the
Transparent into an annual fruiting habit. An interesting experiment would
be to cut all Cortland branches and topgraft them with Transparent, and see
if the tree starts into a biannual habit - but I am not sure I want to do
that...
Claude

----------------
>> A 11:17 00.12.14 -0600, vous avez écrit :
>> >There were several accounts of topgrafting apples to increase
>> >hardiness. I had one experience that suggested that the tree used
>> >for its frame may influence whether the grafted varieties bear
>> >annually or biennially.
>>
>> I find this is a very interesting subject... I have also noticed different
>> behavior of a variety depending on where it is grafted - for example,
>> Yellow Transparent topgrafted on Cortland shows very little biennalism. On
>> the other hand, grafted on a wild seedling, it is completely biennal (i.e.
>> 0 production one year, full crop the other) whatever I do about it.
>>
>> This wild sedling tree with Yellow Transparent is an interesting case. Both
>> varieties have about the same development - there are about 6 branches
>> grafted to Transparent and about the same number of branches of the
>> original tree. Both varieties flower and produce together the same year.
>> One winter, all the flower buds of the wild variety froze, but the
>> Transparent flowered heavily. I thought that, the following year, the wild
>> variety would flower and this would bring the tree out of this biannual
>> habit. But no, the following year, there was not a single flower in the
>> tree and the biennal habit wasn't broken.
>>
>> I don't know what controls this, wether the supporting tree has to produce
>> fruit or not. Can just a frame have an influence? a root?
>>
>> I would appreciate to read from others on this topic.
>>
>> Claude


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